By Lee-Yandra Paulsen

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is grappling with an R870-million deficit in the 2024/2025 financial year due to substantial national budget cuts, according to WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.

Hammond elaborated on the repercussions of these budget reductions, stating, “Last year, we were faced with large budget cuts, which affected how we pay our salaries. Our department had to significantly reduce its infrastructure budget. This year, we are confronting a R870-million deficit in our constant employment, particularly concerning our educators, and we’ve cut expenses across the board.”

She emphasized the department’s commitment to retaining staff, asserting, “We don’t want to terminate anyone’s jobs or decrease the number of job posts. We devised a plan to convert many contract posts into permanent positions. We froze all staff appointments at Head Office and made adjustments regarding substitute posts.”

The WCED communicated this information to schools in November last year and engaged extensively with stakeholders such as School Governing Bodies, Associations, Unions, and principals’ forums to clarify the implications and requirements.

Hammond clarified, “No contract posts were terminated by the WCED. All contracts were until March 31, 2024.” However, schools were encouraged to convert contract positions into permanent ones. “We successfully converted 3100 teachers in this regard. Also, no teaching positions have been cut by the department.”

Regarding misunderstandings among some schools, Hammond noted, “If it comes as a shocker to some principals, then they are not reading their circulars. But we, as a department, also need to take accountability.”

She explained further, “Some principals did not extend the contracts of certain positions beyond March 31 because they hoped to complete recruitment processes for new teachers by then. If this was not achieved on our end, we need communication from the school to address the issue.”

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